THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 39 



tinually on the qui vive for something new or rare. I remem- 

 ber that in crossing the outlet of a Httle mountain pond one 

 day on an old log I found the little sundew, (Drosera rotundi- 

 folia), in flower for the first time and reaching out from the 

 same log with a stick I drew within reach a floating plant with 

 a small, white flower which I found upon consulting my botany 

 was the floating heart {Limunthemum lacnnosum). It was 

 my first sight of this little plant which is somewhat of a rarity 

 with us, yet not so rare as to preclude all possibility of finding 

 it. 



Just beside the water or partly in it one should look for 

 the swamp loosestrife (Dccodon verticillatus) , with its long 

 wand of rose-purple blossoms bending gracefully over toward 

 the surface of the water. A peculiarity of this plant is the 

 thickened bark of the lower part of the stem, making it appear 

 as if inclosed in a sponge. Then if the pond has a marshy 

 border one is almost sure to find the button bush {Cephalan- 

 thus occidenfalis) , with its white sphere of blossoms and also 

 the sweet gale (Myrica Gale) mingled with the alders and 

 various species of willow. Here too is a favorite situation for 

 the swamp rose {Rosa Carolina) and sometimes though not 

 often the shining rose {R. liicida.) 



It was by the borders of & lonely mountain lake that dur- 

 ing the past summer I found the dalibarda (Dalibarda rcpens) 

 forming thick mats of brigh.: green under some of the great 

 forest trees. In the margin of the same pond was growing the 

 water lobelia {Lobelia Dortmanna), with its basal leaves en- 

 tirely submerged but the se<id-pod raised four or five inches 

 above the surface. 



In shallow ponds and ditches during May or early June 

 one may sometimes find that curious floating plant, Riccia 

 natans, varying in size from a pin head to that of a penny. 

 This is sometimes called the purple-fringed riccia from the 

 abundant purplish scales on the under side of the thallus. When 



